First valve check...

Reniram

Reniram

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Joined
Jul 1, 2014
Messages
149
Age
81
Location
Bettendorf iowa
Ok, I bought this bike ..new old stock, in August of this year..Black with abs..The motor when cold always had a little guy tapping away with a tiny hammer? After only a few minutes when she warms up it stops..So, now that the riding season is over and almost 5000 miles I finally got around to doing the valve check!..and I also needed to find the switched elec plug for heated hand grips or vest down the road......after a tad over half a day in my garage, ..some swearing and sweating..my Honda was in excellent health with all valves in spec! no adjustment required dammit!..All that work just for the satisfaction of knowing that the valves are good...I also have to admit that I did not reinstall some of the plastic pieces under the front cowl so I have some plastic nuts and screws left over!..I suppose I will just put up with the noisy tapping cold engine, but I was really wishing for a loose valve somewhere..FWIW..This job is a pita! and I won't be doing another check for a long time!..
 
Reniram said:
This job is a pita! and I won't be doing another check for a long time!..
Click to expand...

Judging by the weather, you won't need to.:p

On the other hand, now that it's done, you know that the valves are OK and you learned some stuff about the bike, so it wasn't a waste of time.
 
I agree the plastic is a PITA. I've done the valve checks and they are kind of a pain but so are other bikes (possibly in different ways).
The one that just got to me was I just changed out the coolant. I see no reason for hiding a radiator cap in a place that is not accessible in a short time.
The good news is once you strip down the tupperware it is easier next time.

Brad
 
ARKNT said:
I agree the plastic is a PITA.The one that just got to me was I just changed out the coolant. I see no reason for hiding a radiator cap in a place that is not accessible in a short time. Brad
Click to expand...

I think anything like the above is a bad design, they should have given the whole thing a little more thought.
 
[...I think anything like the above is a bad design, they should have given the whole thing a little more thought...]


It's only a poor design from the aspect of easy serviceability. Modern vehicles (cars and motorcycles) are designed to be easy to
assemble at the factory with little thought given to owners doing their own service work. Have you tried to work on a modern car lately?

If serviceability by customers were a primary concern, we'd all have Model A Fords or a single cylinder BMW R26. :)
 
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I now have 48,ooo km up. I have just changed the tyres, oil, filter and low beam headlamp bulb as well and cleaning and relubing the drive splines. I do not intend to do the tappets again this time (due at 48K). I adjusted them at 24K and 5 were out of spec (I bought it at 18K). I checked them at 36K and all only 1 needed a very minor adjustment. I next plan to check them at 60K. They rarely move. I feel that checking/adjusting at 24K (15K mile) intervals is OK.

Macka
 
I really like the standard valve adjustment nuts on the motor. Just try a shim under bucket adjustment process one time and you will love that little honda motor even more. I just wish the plastic fairing had exposed stainless square drive, or star, or something standard instead of a mixed bag of hidden fasteners. The smooth plastic tab system may look good but it is a royal pain and I can never remember the sequence of push pull bend.

I loved my BMW valves but it took me about 10 hours to do a spline lube on those bikes. You have to split the whole bike to apply a dab of grease.

Every motorcycle has its strange stuff. The rear tire change on the NT 700 comes to mind as a real goofy design. The new NC700x looks bone simple for general maint. Perhaps when I wear my NT700 out that will be my next buy. Ease of maint. is a real plus for me.
 
While I had the right side fairing removed for another task, I modified that black plastic piece that covers the radiator cap. I cut off roughly a 3" x 3" square to provide easy access to the radiator cap. That piece was trimmed and reinstalled with expanding plastic
pins, similar to those used on other parts of the fairing.
 
Thanks to all comments about my first valve adjustment..The actual work is not that difficult and as mentioned, with a little patience it may be better for the owner to perform this task to better acquaint yourself with the honda...I guess i was expecting a machine that has been in production for many..many years to be a bit more user friendly.Then after a couple of cold ones I settled down and thought about the reasons I chose to buy it in the first place and then the light came on...If you write down a list of "must haves" then the Honda pretty much fits the bill. Touring..ABS..Shaft drive..Tubeless tires..Reliability..Weather protection and overall comfort etc..!...Ease of Maintenance was not even in the picture!...Then I grabbed another beer and felt pretty happy with my choice
 
It is interesting the way they 'hid' parts that needed regular servicing, like valves and rear tire. The more I work on it the more I like my Goose. The only downside to it is clutch work, but, at every 50k or more, not a bad thing (and it only takes an hour to get to it).
 
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